i cannot see how anything they -- anything big can happen between now and then. >> i think it will be small and incremental. regarding immigration, they are looking toward a post-obama 2017. he said that about the health care act. there are those looking well beyond the legislation termed toward the home new era. >> thanks to both of you for being here. thank you for your questions. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] >> on the next "washington journal," we will look at what is on the agenda for the second session of the 113th congress as both chambers return. the boston globe's brian bender in the wall street journal's

janet hook join us. we hear about what happened for those who started receiving health care coverage january 1. then we discuss a recent report done by the agency regarding revenues from oil and gas companies that drill on federal land. we will also look for your reaction by phone, e-mail, and twitter on "washington journal," live every day at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. host: joining us this morning from detroit, anna galland, executive director of civic action from moveon.org. thank you so much for being with us. guest: thank you for having me. host: let me give you one of the headlines this morning from "the washington post," as a president -- the president gets ready to get back to work this week. income inequality. from your perspective how is this addressed? how do you achieve that?

guest: a great question. this is 2014, new year. moveon members will be working on thousands of different campaigns around the country pushing for the full implementation of the affordable care act, which has been so much under siege from republicans in congress. when i look at the year, i see four areas to watch. one, the election. two, exactly as you said, income inequality. three, i think this is the year we could see meaningful progress on climate change. four, this is a year where we could see meaningful gains following on the heels of last year's other forms of inequality issues, like issues of civil rights, or example. -- for example. on income inequality, i think that the broader context here is really clear. there are too many americans really struggling to make ends meet, while a very small number

of people are doing more than fine. a statistic i like to pull out that is one of many that i think is -- illustrates the problem, the average ceo in this country now makes something like 340 times what the average employee makes. not the janitor, but the average employee. it is the symptom of a broader problem where people are working hard. many people are working two or three jobs just to make ends meet and pay down their student loans, putting food on the table for their family, yet they still cannot make ends meet. something is wrong and something is broken with how our economy rewards hard work and people take care of themselves and their family. looking ahead to this year, that is one of a number of levels. fighting alongside fast food workers this year, who were hoping for not something totally radical, but for a living wage to feed their families, so that they are not forced to turn to food stamps while working in the food industry, terrible irony that many people do.

they're also looking to expand social security rather than to cut it. so the programs that have worked for generations for many americans will be brought peace of mind going into their retirement. and we are already seeing efforts to raise the minimum wage in this country. the minimum wage has not kept pace with inflation. we want to see a wage for people -- that people can actually support their family while working full-time. those are some of the initiatives we will see this year. coming up more imminently, tomorrow, monday we will hopefully see a vote on extending unemployment insurance for the millions of americans who are out of work. the fact that unemployment insurance has been allowed to lapse is a travesty. it shows our priorities are quite skewed in washington. so, millions of our members are looking forward to working on this on many fronts this year, to make sure that this is the tipping point for economic inequality in this country, where we start to reflect the

values of the country that we can be and must be, rather than the problems that we see day to day right now. host: following up on that laundry list of domestic agenda items, the president will be talking about that in his state of the union address. from your standpoint, is this a legislative agenda for the president in 2014, or are these items for democrats to run on with the hope that congress and the democrats can increase their majority, that if they do, it will be something for 2015? guest: a good question. as you noted, 2014 is the year where things will happen in congress, and there is an election. there are state and local decisionmakers who will be

hashing out these issues as well. what moveon is is a community of millions of americans who work together on all of those let -- all of those levels to fight for progressive change. when there is a possibility of making that change happen at the state or local level, we are there. you have seen recently that municipalities, like seatback, -- like seatac in washington has had a chance to raise the minimum wage locally. if on the federal level we are all ready, we can take that fight to the state and local level, and we will. how do the elections weigh in? they are a chance for us to hold our elected officials accountable. they are a choice moment for the country. what kind of country are we going to be? what kinds of values are we going to reflect? certainly we are looking to this election cycle as a time where we will make our values reflected in the leadership that we have. if you look already at this election cycle and the endorsement of two candidates, in hawaii the candidate for senate, as well as mike honda, for senate in california, they have both stood up and been champions for social security,

one piece of the broader puzzle. again, we do want to see social security strengthened and expanded. politicians who speak to that, who helped to create an economy that is fair and provides a measure of economic security for all americans who are working hard, and all americans, the debt is the country we can be and those are the elected officials who speak to that and we will be supporting them in 2014. host: our guest is the executive director of civil action at moveon.org. back ined moveon.org 2002, joint staff in 2007. the organization began during the clinton impeachment. how has it changed and evolved over the years? what is your role in terms of their action and the larger umbrella? guest: good question. funny to think it has been 15 years since the president was facing impeachment hearings. many things have changed in

that time. although one thing that has not changed is the need for thoughtful, progressive, concerned americans speaking out to make the country better. we are a democracy, but we only work if people take action, speak up for their values, and work together to make the country better. over the years we have raised hundreds of millions of dollars in small donations from our members to fund our work together. that remains true. we are entirely funded by our members. we do not take money from any other source except our members. our average contribution last year was about $40. that grassroots base, that grassroots funding, is what allows our members to make a their voices heard in the political debate in such an authentic way. so, my experience, would you asked about, was helping people feel the network from the ground up. -- my experience was helping build the field network from

the ground up. we have hundreds of councils around the country leaping into action in person. we go off-line. we do not just do e-mail. we are present outside congressional offices. one example -- during the congressional shutdown caused by the tea party republican faction exerting a really damaging stranglehold on our democracy, in the moment of that shut down, we saw members around the country stepping up, starting petitions, organizing protests outside their local offices. that was an amazing outpouring and something that we will always step up to, those moments where we need to make our moments heard -- moments where we need to make our voices heard. i am proud to do that. host: you can join in on the conversation, phone lines on the bottom of the screen, send us an e-mail, or send us a tweet. james, michigan, republican line, good morning. caller: good morning, ladies and -- lady and gentleman.

first, i want to state i am a disenfranchised republican, to say the least. host: before you ask your question -- why are you disenfranchised? why are you upset with your party? caller: thank you for allowing me to answer that. at the 2007 mackinac island republican leadership on friends, it became very clear not only on the island itself, but along the michigan coastline, that the guestworker program that was installed allows employers to hire employees from other countries, particularly jamaica. if the republicans are against obama for trying to create a level playing field, they themselves are procuring the same situation that they are

-- incurring the same situation that they are trying to avoid in their arguments against the democrats. it seems to be a dog and pony show. i find that to be racist, to are to hire, when there unemployed americans, hiring outside the country for lower wage, there is a debacle there. that is one of the main reasons i am disenfranchised. there are several others. for the sake of the conversation that you guys have installed, i sheed to ask anna if -- how felt -- if there was any conflicts with the health care, the obama care, and the congress clause that allows states to interact in commerce with each other? host: thank you. guest: hello there.

you are right where i am. on obamacare, just to give a bit of context, we have all worked extremely hard to help pass health care reform. we believe it is a travesty that 4 million americans have gone -- that 40 million americans have gone without access to health care. we believe that we can and must do better as a country. one of the most exciting things about where we are now is that as of today, 9 million americans now have access to health care. that didn't have it before. that is a huge change. it is in addition to seeing changes like the fact that if you have a pre-existing condition, you cannot be denied anymore. if you get sick, you cannot be kicked off. if you are a woman, you cannot be discriminated against. if you are a roofer or working construction, you cannot be discriminated against. these are all changes that are for the better. we have to keep moving forward. the law as it stands is imperfect. it should be strengthened. we cannot go back.

that is one of those general overviews. we think that as a country, we have to do better than we were doing before. people could not necessarily get out without insurance. we can do better and we are on track to get where we need to be. the law is settled here. it is not even a question whether obamacare is constitutional. the supreme court has ruled on that. where we need to go now is the republican led states where those states have political reasons and have turned down medicaid funding. we need to see them be pressured to change their minds and except funding. we need to see a continued experiment with how we continue to strengthen and improve this program. we need to offer a public option. we're looking forward to seeing what we can do constructively around health care. host: let me share with you an

opinion from the washington post. it is called the resurgent progressives. i want to share one part of what he says. how would you answer that? guest: that is exactly the right question we should be asking. we have never seen real accountability on wall street. there are millions of people whose lives were upended by the financial crisis. people lost their homes. people lost their jobs. i still have not gotten back on track. people were crushed by debt from student loans or credit card debt. there are two or three job seekers. it is not the people are not trying, it is that the economy

is not working for people. it is really quite tragic that wall street has not been held accountable for what they did. americans are paying the price. this goes back to what i think is a priority. we need to build the kind of economy that we need. we need to have this as the most wealthy country in the world. an economy that works for everyone. families can support themselves, rather than having to rely on the government with food stamps. the economy is structured in such a way that people have what they need. that is to say, i am totally with ej on this one. one of the motivating things is how do we make this economy work for every american? it is a burning need. not just an optional thing. host: this was overseas.

-- this program is carried overseas, including on the bbc parliament channel. it has been seen on the web. patrick is joining us. good morning. guest: good morning. caller: can you hear me? i just wanted to give some support to the young lady. i get e-mails every day of the week here in spain. i support what they do. i want to make this point. back in 1948 when the national health service was to, people uk,as introduced into the people said it could not work. they said it would be impossible. they had all of the problems of it being inaugurated. eventually, after all of that was cleared up, it has become the most beloved institution in the uk. you people in america really have nothing to worry about. obama will be the most fantastic

thing that has ever happened to the u.s. host: thank you for the call. guest: it is interesting. thank you for saying that you get our e-mails. there are millions of members. the majority of whom are in the u.s. great to hear that our reach extends overseas. i would say that the united states has a long and proud tradition of programs that work for millions of americans. look at medicare and medicaid. look at the v.a. system. look at the military and all of the systems that they have set up to take care of people. what our members thinks is that the government can be up -- a constructive force. we see that in examples i've cited and many more. what we want to see happen in the coming years is that the debate should shift away from is obamacare right or not? it is the law of the land. he was reelected after making

that his signature achievement. let's move on. let's move on to the other pressing business that we face. we need to deal with economic inequality. we need to deal with the fact that not all americans have access to equal justice under the law. that is our priority. we have to get out of the same old tired debates which are fueled by special interests. not one americans hold dear. with our millions of members, we can start campaigns on issues that matter. whether it be at the local level or state level. clear that thousands of campaign started. i invite all of your viewers to come and check out. moveon.org. try starting your own petition. we will help you run a powerful campaign. we're taking action together. host: the other question was all

-- with all the points you mentioned, how do you pay for all of that? this is from veterans of the george w. bush administration. they write that a conservative vision of government -- they make this point. the obama years have been a high watermark, including a post- world war ii record for federal spending as a percentage of gdp at 25.2% in the obama administration. by comparison, the postwar average was 19.8%. the u.s. has amassed more than $6 trillion in debt since january 2009. prior to president obama, no president has had a budget with a trillion dollar deficit. obama has submitted four of them. your response? guest: thank you for the question. first of all, i would say that you should watch some of the videos from former labor secreatry robert reisch. one of the things that he is -- has pointed out is that the

deficit and issues of debt are the wrong place to be looking. you can deal with those by growing the economy. since day one of his term, he inherited an economy in crisis. the bottom has fallen out. but we need to see is congress -- what we need to see is congress doing more, not less. to stimulate the economy and put people back to work. get these wheels turning so that we can actually deal with the fundamentals from a place of strength rather than weakness. austerity is not the answer. the answer is jobs. there's also the fact that you see effective tax rates are lower now than they were under president nixon. the kind of hysteria that we see on the right that says our economy is threatened. it is because of the debt or the deficit. it is entirely misplaced. i would encourage people to go out and talk to someone unemployed.

they have looked for work for years. ask them if they should be -- if they think we should be focused on paying down the deficit or should we be growing the economy? we need to generate resources for all of the needs that we face. by putting people back to work. i think you'll get an answer. host: our topic is the progressives. our guest is anna galland from detroit. she is with moveon.org. later on, we will move on to conservatives. kevin is joining us from new york. democrats line, good morning. caller: thank you for your time. my issue is climate change. it is an area that is really -- i am not happy with obama. i want to make three points. as shouldn't take more than a minute. i'm not going to repeat myself. climate change currently is being affected by warming in the arctic. warming in the arctic is being caused by several feedback loops, including albedo and methane release. this is having a profound effect on the jetstream.

the jetstream is a moderating force that brings cold air down to the southern latitudes and brings warm air up to the northern latitudes. the dynamics between the north and the south is being diluted by the warming in the arctic. that is point number one. point number two. nature magazine reported in the past couple of weeks that the prediction for the end of the century is for for degrees -- a 4 degrees celsius increase. that represents a 7.6 degree fahrenheit increase. the terminology that they are using is catastrophic. i do not know if our viewership understands the word catastrophic, but i assure them it is not good. any child who was born today will face catastrophic circumstances in their future. without a doubt. finally, what can you do? you can call your congress people and tell them that we want better mileage for our cars.

mandated. cut down the usage of carbon. you will stop or bring down to a manageable level. there are things that you can do. host: thank you for the call. guest: thank you so much, kevin. i said early on, i think there are areas to watch. members to work on in 2014. certainly a shift into clean energy climate change is one of them. an important thing to note is we will see a decision from the administration on the keystone xl pipeline. it has -- it is both important in its own right and as a symbolic site for which direction we as a country are going to take. we will watch along with all of our allies to see what did -- see where the administration comes down on that. we are hurting to see that the administration has shown through recent appointments that they will take climate very seriously. secretary of state john kerry and john podesta -- people who understand the gravity of the

climate crisis. they're ready to take action. members will stand with them as they put into place measures that the executive can take without waiting for congress. i would just note that there is also ways that people can get involved that don't just include contacting your congressman. we just launched a program where hundreds of people around the country are fighting in their own backyard against energy companies. once you dig into their backyard, you are polluting their groundwater. i don't think any of us wants to wake up in the morning and find they can light their tap water on fire. we have to be reaching for clean energy sources. like wind and solar to power our whole economy. this is the year where we can make meaningful strides. on a personal note, as the color -- caller spoke to catastrophe, i have two young daughters.

they are two years old. i think about the world that they will inherit. i do not want them to grow up in a world that is full of routine climate disasters. you see in australia right now -- our winter is australia's summer. it is 120 degrees in australia. this is not ok. this is not normal. we're seeing routine, extreme weather events. tornadoes and all sorts of stuff. this is very troubling and we need to do something about it. i hope that this is the year where, because of grassroots pressure, our leadership will have the courage to finally take action. host: we were focusing on the issue of immigration. one of the agenda items as lawmakers return to washington. this is from arnold, who says, "stop the war on drugs, free the drug-related prisoners, make room for those who really break real laws." he says in parentheses, illegals. guest: the war on drugs has been a costly failure. you look at the millions of people who have been locked up.

whose lives have been interrupted as a result because of nonviolent drug offenses. are we spending money on the right place when we do that? moveon members would largely say and we should be trying different alternatives. we are always watching with interest what is happening in states like colorado. they experiment with different forms of legalization of marijuana, for example. where i would disagree is that immigration is something that we should be further criminalizing. see as ahat we country, the values that are core to who we are are that we , as a people want to support families who are just working to make their lives better. america has always been built on this. america was built on immigration. what you see now are 11 million aspiring americans, who, because of our broken immigration system, don't have a pathway to make a better life for themselves. they are stuck in the shadows. that hurts all of us. it hurts the economy, it hurts everybody. our lives are connected.

we are bound up together. what i am proud of is that in the last year, more members and other leaders in our immigration campaigning called for congress to do something comprehensive to address our broken immigration system. i'm hoping that in 2014 am a we won't just get the piecemeal approach the john boehner seems open to, but that we will have a comprehensive way of addressing the broken immigration system, which has caused so much hurt and so much separation. and so much needless loss of human potential in this country. host: about 45 miles outside of washington, we will go to spotsylvania, virginia. good morning, independent line. caller: thank you so much for taking my call. i really appreciate it. good morning, anna. i wanted to touch on the comment about ceos and the amount of money that they're making. i work for the president of

geico insurance agency here in virginia. this man worked extremely hard. i wanted you to give me i wanted you guess to tell me specifically what you want congress to do regarding any -- income inequality. this man works a lot harder than i do. he makes more money than i do. i want you to tell me how that is income inequality. how is the fact that this man travels around the country, he is on his e-mail almost 24 7 -- i make less money than he does. he works harder than i do. what do you want congress to do about that? guest: great question. thank you for posing it. i would say that hard work and hard work. i respect the ceos who are working 24 hours a day. on airplanes, separated from their families. for sure. i think there are a lot of responsible ceos who are building value for their companies and contribute a lot to society.

i would not cast aspersions on them for that. what i would say is that it shouldn't matter whether you're a ceo or the front-line sales employee for geico, there are lots of people who work around the clock and make sacrifices to support their family and that work should be rewarded. the gap that we have, 350 times, i do not think anybody works 350 times harder than anyone else. i do not think that is possible. what i would like to see is a comprehensive set of policies that would help to make it easier for people to get by. we're not talking about radical redistribution. we are not a radical organization. there are groups that are far further to the left than we are. what i would say is that things like starting by extending unemployment insurance, so people who have lost their jobs, the over one million americans who are currently out of work will have a safety net that they need as they pursue their job searches. what i want to see is a race to

-- raise to the federal government wage. it has not kept pace with inflation. what i would like to see is an expansion of social security. we will have more resources going towards people at the end of their lives, when they need -- deserve to live in dignity and not in squalor. what i would like to see is what i would like to see is obamacare being strengthened and fully implemented, rather than rolled back. the kind of thing republicans are trying to do. i think about all of those things. so i really thank you for your question. is tok that the goal here bring americans up, not pull other people down. to create the kind of economy that we need. .ost: one quick follow-up this is a tweet from bill. he says congress